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Teeing Off: The Arizona Wildcats womens golf team will travel to Honolulu
this week to compete in the 16th annual Dr. Donnis Thompson Rainbow
Invitational. Play begins Tuesday, March 27 and runs through Thursday,
March 29. the 54-hole tournament will have a 7:30 a.m. shotgun start each
day, with 18 holes played everday.

Coach Greg Allen on the Dr. Thompson Rainbow Invitational: "It's been
several weeks since our last event, so we are ready to get back into
competition. We have been practicing very hard and gearing up for these
final two months, with winning the post season events as our ultimate goal.
The golfers are excited to get going again and we all hope to begin
building momentum as we head down the stretch run."

Last Year at the Dr. Thompson Rainbow Invitational: The top-ranked Arizona
womens golf team came from behind to win the Dr. Thompson Rainbow Wahine
Golf Invitational. The Wildcats shot a 19-over-par 883 to beat second-place
Pepperdine by two strokes. Sophomore Cristina Baena and senior Jenna
Daniels both finished the tournament at 3-under-par 213. Baena claimed
medalist honors after two playoff holes to record the first individual
title of her career. Freshman Julia Kraschinski tied for 10th place
(11-over-par 227), while junior Christina Monteiro finished tied for 17th
(14-over-par 230). Senior Jill Gomric shot a 6-over-par 78 on day one of
the tournament, but then had to withdraw from the second and third round of
play after she injured her right wrist.

Last Time Out at the Wildcat Invitational: The second-ranked Arizona
womens golf team claimed the championship at its lone home tournament, the
Wildcat Invitational held at The Raven Golf Club at Sabino Springs., by
shooting a team total of 875. Arizona out-dueled No. 1 Duke and No. 5
Stanford to earn the title. Head coach Greg Allens squad held a
four-stroke lead entering Wednesdays final round, but still needed a
strong performance down the stretch to claim the title. With only nine
holes remaining, the Wildcats were three shots back of the top-ranked Blue
Devils. However, Arizona shot four-under-par as a team on the final nine
holes to surge ahead of Duke as it combined to shoot 12-over-par on the
back nine. Leading the late charge for Arizona was stellar freshman Lorena
Ochoa, who earned medalist honors for the third time in her young career.
Ochoa completed the tournament with a total of 213 (-3). Ochoa, like the
entire Arizona team, needed a late push down the stretch to position
herself in first place. With only 13 holes to play, the freshman from
Guadalajara, Mexico trailed Dukes Candy Hannemann by six strokes. Ochoa
tied Hannemann and won the individual title in a sudden-death playoff with
a birdie on the first extra hole. Also playing a large part in the
Wildcats success was Arizonas other standout freshman Natalie Gulbis.
Named Golf World Collegiate Player of the Week on Feb. 21, Gulbis finished
in fifth place with a three-day total of 216 (E). Sophomore Anne Lee
finished the tournament tied for eighth place with a three-round total of
219 (+3). Lees previous high finish was a tie for 26th place at last
years Pac-10 Conference Championships. Arizona junior Cristina Baena tied
for 31st place at 13-over-par 229, while sophomore Laura Myerscough tied
for 52nd place with a tournament total of 233 (+17).

Ochoa on the LPGA: Freshman Lorena Ochoa will not participate in the Dr.
Thompson Rainbow Invitational with the Wildcats this week because she is
Rancho Mirage, Calif., participating in the Nabisco Championship with the
LPGA. The Nabisco is one of the tours four major tournaments. Through
two rounds, Ochoa led all amateurs and was tied for seventh place overall.
Ochoa fired rounds of 72 and 71, five strokes off the lead. Last month,
Ochoa finished tied for seventh place at the Welchs/Circle K Championship,
the LPGA event held in Tucson. She shot a total of 276 (-12).

Baena Says Aloha: Junior Cristina Baena has found much success in Hawaii.
The junior earned her first individual championship last year at the Dr.
Thompson Rainbow Invitational by shooting a 3-under-par 213 and outdueling
teammate Jenna Daniels after two playoff holes. During Baenas freshman
campaign, she tied for tenth with a three-round total of 224 (+8) at the
Rainbow Invitational in Hawaii.

Tiger, Jenna and. . . Lorena: In being named Rolex College Golfer of the
Month for February, freshman Lorena Ochoa became just the third golfer in
the history of the award to win the honor three times in one season. She
was also honored for the months of September and November. Ochoa joins
elite company, Tiger Woods of Stanford won the award three times in 1995-96
and Jenna Daniels of Arizona won it three times last year.

The Fountain of Youth: Of the 94 individual rounds played by Arizona
golfers this season, freshmen and sophomores have played 54 of them. The
Wildcats fielded a lineup consisting of only underclassmen in winning the
TRW Regional Challenge. Coach Greg Allen has relied on freshmen and
sophomores for leadership and performance on the course. Freshman Lorena
Ochoa has played 17 rounds, freshman Natalie Gulbis has played 12,
sophomore Julia Kraschinski has played 2, sophomore Anne Lee has played 9
and sophomore Laura Myerscough has played 14 rounds.

Cats In the Polls: Arizona currently stands at No. 2 in the College Golf
Foundations MasterCard Collegiate Golf Rankings. Despite finishing 13
strokes ahead of top-ranked Duke in their last meeting, the Cats still
trail the Blue Devils in the poll. Freshman Lorena Ochoa occupies the
nations top spot in the individual rankings after capturing three
individual titles so far this season. Other UA golfers ranked in the poll
include freshman Natalie Gulbis and junior Cristina Baena. Gulbis is
ranked eighth in the latest edition of the poll. Gulbis won the first
championship of her career at the TRW Regional Challenge and has three
top-10 finishes in just four scoring events this season. Baena stands at
No. 16, she currently owns a stroke average of 74.57 and has three top-10
finishes. The Wildcats also occupy the No. 2 spot in the Golfweek/Sagarin
Performance Index. Arizonas freshmen duo of Ochoa and Gulbis hold the
Nos.1 and 2 spots in the Sagarin index, respectively.

Freshmen Hitting the (Record) Books: The Wildcats two freshmen combined to
go 11 shots under par in round one of the Stanford/Pepsi Invitational.
Ochoa shot a 66 (-6) and Gulbis, in her first round of collegiate golf
ever, checked in with a 67 (-5), both rounds rank near the top on the
all-time record list for Arizona freshmen. Marisa Baena shot a
seven-under-par 65 in May 1996 for the lowest round ever by a Wildcat
freshman and Annika Sorenstam carded a five-under 67 at the Stanford
Invitational in October 1990 for the third-best round by a UA freshman.

Ochoas Accolades: The personal honors have begun to pour in for Arizona
freshman sensation Lorena Ochoa. Golf World magazine named Ochoa its
Player of the Week for the week of Sept. 29, 2000. Ochoa was later honored
by the College Golf Foundation as the Rolex College Golfer of the Month for
September. The CGF again named Ochoa Golfer of the Month for November and
February, becoming only the third golfer in the history of the award to be
so honored.

Princess Christina: Senior Christina Monteiro did not travel with the team
the weekend of Nov. 10-12 to Estero, Fla. for the Match Play Championships
in order to remain in Tucson for UAs annual homecoming festivities.
Monteiro was selected as the athletic departments nominee for homecoming
queen.

Hello, Old Friend: UA squared off against Georgia in the first round of
Novembers Match Play Championships. The Georgia Bulldogs are coached by
former Wildcat head coach Todd McCorkle. The meeting in the Match Play
Championships was the first between the Cats and McCorkle since he left
Tucson in late June.

Fall Season Wrap-Up: The Wildcats completed a successful fall season by
capturing two team titles and two individual titles. Four Arizona golfers
garnered a total of nine top-10 finishes in just four scoring events. The
Wildcats opened the fall with a second-place showing at the NCAA Fall
Preview, shooting 598 and finishing just three strokes behind champion
Duke. The following weekend saw the Wildcats earn their first title with
an 892 at the Comcast/Dick McGuire Invitational. Freshman Lorena Ochoa won
the individual title with a three-round score of 212 (-7). In October,
Arizona won its second team championship of the year by shooting 873 at the
Stanford/Pepsi Invitational. Arizonas two freshmen, Ochoa and Natalie
Gulbis, opened the tournament with rounds of 66 and 67. The Wildcats
wrapped up the fall season with a sixth-place finish at the Golf World
Invitational and a seventh-place finish at the CGF Match Play
Championships. Ochoa again earned medalist honors at the Golf World
Invitational. Junior Cristina Baena notched three top-10 finishes,
including second place at the Comcast/Dick McGuire Invitational and third
place at the NCAA Fall Preview. Arizona finished the fall season ranked
No. 2 by the College Golf Foundation and had three golfers ranked
individually in the top 15.

2000 National Champions: The Wildcats topped off a dominant season in which
they won nine tournaments by a combined total of 73 shots by capturing the
2000 National Championship in May. The title is the schools second in the
last five years. Arizona turned in one of the most dominating performances
in the 19-year history of the national championship tournament.
Second-place Stanford finished trailing Arizona by 21 strokes, the
third-largest margin in NCAA Championship history. Three Wildcat golfers
finished in the top 10 at the championships, held at Crosswater Course in
Sunriver, Ore. Alumna Jenna Daniels took the individual title with a
one-under par 287, sophomore Julia Kraschinski finished in second, and
junior Cristina Baena tied for tenth.

Wildcat Coaching Staff: Coach Greg Allen, who was hired in late July, comes
to the University of Arizona from Texas where he was the assistant coach
for the Longhorns mens golf team. Allen helped guide Texas to the
1999-2000 NCAA Central Region championship and a fifth-place finish at the
NCAA Championships. Allen graduated from Murray State University in 1993.
Coach Allen is assisted by Amy Solfisburg who is in her eighth year with
the Wildcat womens golf program. Solfisburg attended the University of
Arizona and is a native of Michigan.